Burqa-clad militants open fire at college in Pakistan

According tot he information given by the officials, minimum of fourteen students got killed as burqa-clad militants stormed and opened fire at the hostel of the Peshawar Agricultural Training Institute here in Pakistan.

The number of casualties is expected to rise, the media quoted security officials and doctors as saying. Twenty-five others were injured in the horrific attack. The killings began early in the morning after three loud explosions were heard. Firing broke out at the hostel after three to five burqa-clad suspects entered the building, Geo news reported.

Ordinarily, there are around 400 students at the hostel but there were only some 150 on Friday on account of Eid Milad-un-Nabi, the birthday of Prophet Mohammad, said a student who witnessed the attack. As two militants began firing, the frightened students ran to take shelter. Some were shot and wounded while others jumped out of the windows, the witness said.

The attackers, who arrived in a rickshaw, first shot the guard at the gate and then proceeded to the hostel, according to police. Security forces, initially stunned by the attack, then took on the terrorists.

“A total of five terrorists have been killed. Nine people including eight students and a guard have been killed. While 25 others, including students, police and troops, are injured,” Peshawar police officer Bashir Dad told Efe news.